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Detroit billboards advertise wrong election date

The last thing a city stricken with bankruptcy needs is to send the wrong message about Election Day.

That’s what happened over the weekend in Detroit, where many of the 14 billboards promoting the city’s general election listed an incorrect date—in September, more than two months early.

If we rewind to high school U.S. Government and Politics, we’ll remember that (with certain exceptions, including primaries) Election Day falls on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

City Clerk Janice Winfrey told the Detroit Free Press that International Outdoor, the locally owned company that manages the billboards, made the mistake. Winfrey noticed the inaccuracy, which you can see here, on Saturday.

International Outdoor was reportedly rather gung-ho in changing over the billboards after Michigan’s primary elections on Tuesday, Aug. 6. The hasty turnaround seems to have led to the error.

In an email to Winfrey, the president of International Outdoor, Randy Oram, wrote that the billboards were to be corrected Tuesday morning.

The stage is set for Detroit’s November election, which includes races for mayor and city council. Voters will decide whether it’s Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon or former Detroit Medical Center CEO Mike Duggan who will inherit the city’s $18 billion debt.